Every thing about Science and Space

Lakes seen on Titan

2007-01-18T23:52:00.000+02:00

The scientists have found what they create are definitive evidence that the lakes of the liquid methane exist in the surface of the greatest Saturn moon, Titan. In a paper he published in the application the nature of the newspaper, of Thursday the data these scientists of the projection of image of the radar gathered during flyby of the moon by Cassini of the NASA that the spaceship demonstrated in 2006 July that the considered dark characteristics near the North Pole of the moon are explained more more good possible by them than they are lakes. The characteristics considered by constant Cassini with the characteristics that are lakes include their location in topographic depressions and levels that vary of the embankment. The results confirm preliminary burdens of data of flyby that appeared to support the existence of the lakes.

French Satellite Hunts for New Worlds

2007-01-18T23:50:00.000+02:00

A new French satellite reached orbit Wednesday to begin a hunting of 30 months stops Earth-like worlds around distant stars. The spaceship, call COROT, assumptions, or exoplanets are first of a series of robotic ends of test hoped to advance the extrasolar planet study perceivably, particularly those that are resembled the Earth. More than 200 exoplanets has been discovered from 1995, although the majority has been giant of the gas greater than Jupiter, that orbit near their stars of the father. "If we found as soon as a planet rocky, later we can be safe that there are many of them," the scientist this Malcolm Fridlund of the project with the European Space Agency. The name of COROT is abbreviations modified for the planetary rotation of the convection and transits, that are what the spaceship will look for. Fixing their foot-long telescope to a specific area of the sky by 150 days simultaneously, COROT will be able to detect to cushion slighter of the light of a star caused by the passage of a planet through their face. COROT also will look for starquakes and other associated phenomena the internal star operations, measuring the waves of the energy that undulate through the surfaces of stars, a well-known science like asteroseismology. To study the undulation gives to scientists the penetration in the mass of a star, the age and the chemical composition. "The measures required for both (the studies) are essentially equal - the results of the high precision in how the radiation of a star changes in a certain term," it said to Ian Roxburgh of queen Maria, of the university of London and a collaborator of long term of the COROT science. The European Space Agency has been using a similar technique for the studies of the sun with the solar observatory and of Heliospheric, or SOHO. The scientists glide to at least point 50 stars for the similar studies with COROT. Whereas COROT is the first satellite to take exoplanet-hunts the orbit, it will be far from hard. This NASA of the decade more ahead glides to send an ambitious mission called Kepler to look for Earth-classified planets that they move in orbit around stars in the advisable distances so that the life becomes. Whereas COROT will also look for for rocky worlds, he will need to be near his stars of the father for the detection, a distance that would be probably inhospitable for the life. Europe also has a recordativa letter called Darwin anticipated mission. It would imply a fleet of the spaceship four or five that could take pictures Earth-like from worlds so the scientists can look for samples of the life.

NASA adds array work to next EVA

2006-12-28T22:05:00.000+02:00

The NASA has decided to cause that a pair of astronauts examines a solar panel balky in the ISS during his spacewalk the following last Saturday. Astronauts Bob Curbeam and Sunita Williams glide to lead third and final EVA to program of afternoon of Saturday of the mission STS-116, completion the work rewiring on the electrical system of the station who began during spacewalk Thursday. If the time allows, both they will examine a solar paddle who could not contract completely previous in the week. The efforts Friday of jiggle the P6 arsenal, including having an exercise of the vigorous astronaut within the station, failed to unstick the panel, who contracted only partially. The NASA has eliminated dedicated EVA to fix the problem due to a deficiency of the training to treat this problem; additional EVA also would avoid that they made an inspection of the heat protector of the shuttle after descolar, if comes. The solar arsenal at the moment is contracted enough to allow that another system of solar paddles rotates, but will need to be contracted completely in a certain point before the orders move to their final location in the truss of the station.

Delta 2 launches NRO satellite

2006-12-17T16:28:00.000+02:00

A rocket of delta 2 sent to a satellite classified for the national office of the recognition (NRO) Thursday in the first launching made under auspices of the united alliance of the launching (ULA). Delta 2 7920-10 afternoon cleared of the complex launching 2W of the space in the base of Air Force of Vandenberg in California in 4 of EST (GMT 2100), unfolding its payload in orbit near one more hour advanced. One did not provide any details on the satellite of NRO, indicated NROL-21. The launching was the first one since the ULA began operations at the beginning of the month officially. The ULS combined the operations of the launching of the government of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and includes the delta both 2 as well as rockets of EELV societies.

Deodorant from Monkey Smells Sweet

2006-12-03T21:42:00.000+02:00

What can be the most natural Colony of the world was discovered recently in a Mexican forest. The ingredients? Spit of the chewed monkey and upon the leaves.
According to a paper in the application of this month primates of the newspaper, the masculine Mexican monkeys of the spider chew the leaves of three aromatic plants: the tree of the pea of Alamos, that has fragant leaves and flowers, a flourishing tree of the trompeta, and wild celery. The ritual, that typically takes anywhere to divide 30 seconds for two minutes, was judged monkey �self-anointing� by Matthias Laska, professor of zoology in the university of Linkoping in Sweden. Laska and its colleagues observed the behavior 20 times in two masculine monkeys of the spider that were part of a group free-ranging extended in the Silvestra fauna of Park of tropical Flora and in Veracruz, Mexico. The investigators determined the monkeys always applied as soon as a species of the plant simultaneously. The use was routine, not unlike of a man who regularly spritzes in the desodorisante or Colony. �In most of cases, the arm that did not maintain the material of the scent-bearing was carried out overflow or grasped a branch on the animal,� Laska and his team wrote.
Whereas this one is the first one disclosed the case of such behavior in wild Mexican monkeys of the spider, the similar routines have been stained between the masculine and feminine monkeys of capuchin, the monkeys of the owl, other monkeys of the spider and lemurs. In most of these cases, the scientists speculated that pure of the leaf mash could have been used to attenuate topical infections of the skin or to reject insects. Laska and his team, nevertheless, found that of the plants used by the Mexican monkeys of the spider, only the wild celery is known to have insect-repelling of compound and of characteristic anti-fungal properties. The other of the plants simply good scent. The scientists, therefore, concluded that one same-to grease �can play a role in the context of the social communication, to indicate of the social state or possibly to increase the attraction sexual.� That is to say, the monkeys could make it for he himself basic use Colony of the people of the reasons. Whereas chemistry behind this continues being a mystery, the scents can mimic those of the fragant, natural steroids of primate, that are presumed to act like pheromones sex-that they stimulate.
Laska lead a previous study that found the spider that the monkeys particularly are equipped in smelling outside towards such scents. But all the monkeys do not wish to smell like the flowers and the celery.
Mary Baker, junior instructor of the anthropology in the university of Rhode Island, monkeys observed of capuchin that apply to the citric fruit and pures of the leaf of the tobacco to their bodies. Christina Campbell, scientist in the institute of Cotsen of the Archaeology in the university of California in Los Angeles, observed he himself behavior in monkeys black-given of the spider in Panama. Campbell said the news of the discovery that �I agree generally with (the new ones) results,� but she has still not eliminated other possible reasons of the scent rubbing. �I think that the behavior can be a certain class that indicates, although they do not convince to me,� of her said. �Also I ask myself if it can work to stimulate or to clean the gland that rubs the mixture of the mixture plant.� The future studies of the hopes of Laska will solve such questions on the fragant ritual.

Whale vocab richer than thought

2006-11-19T23:32:00.000+02:00

It cannot be language as we know it, but the whales do not have any shortage of ways to be done understood. So ample it is his vocal repertoire, in fact, that the whales can call to their young people, it courts potential companions and it even express emotions, according to the investigators who have identified 622 social sounds in whales of humpback. Its work will be presented/displayed in the next joint meetings of the acoustic society of America (HANDLE) and of the acoustic society of Japan in Hawaii. The social sounds are written, unpatterned the sounds that are different from songs more very long, complex of the whale. The new investigation adds to a body every greater time of the evidence than the whales transport more meaning with vocalizations than it thought previously. "It would not say (the whales have) language, as that is a human term," the news this Dunlop of the discovery of Rebecca. Dunlop, that worked in the study, is investigator in the school of veterinary sciences in the university of Queensland, Australia. The "whales do not chain these together sounds as words and orations of the form. It is rather a simple vocabulary," she said. The scientists visually followed 60 cases of the whales that emigrated throughout the coast of the east of Australia. The investigators used an arsenal of static hydrophone - sensible equipment that detects acoustic waves - to bind to the sounds of the whale to the several activities and contexts. They identified 622 different sounds, that fell in 35 basic types. These include "wops" done by the females, "thwops" done by the men, the "barks" made when the cases start off, and the shouts acute that appeared to express rage. In addition to vocalizations, the investigators found that the whales send messages with body language - practicing an opening the surface, giving a pat to the water with their tails and blowing subaqueous bubbles. Famous by your long, complex songs, whales also "to speak sometimes" the short units of the song individually instead of singing them. The men specially look like to make this when trying court a female. The "song is a noisy signal of the diffusion and two singers who sing at the same time are limited to be confused the receiver," Dunlop speculated. "If he is trying to attract a female, but it does not wish its signal confused with another singer in the area, then to use units of the song in this case could be the way advanced." She thinks that they are the whales of a reason so vocal she is because the sound travels better in water than light, and so the Vista is less useful to the whales that the hearing. Christopher Clark, director of the research program of Bioacoustics in the university of Cornell, lead a similar study in right whales. It needed the irony that hardly as the investigators are gaining a better understanding of vocalizations of the whale, the human beings is creating as much noise of the ocean - with the shipment, exploration of the oil and the gas, recreacional traffic and more than we often avoided that the whales communicate. "Many whales have very traditional arguments of feeding and his migratory routes to happen throughout the low lines of the coast, that now are something of noisiest, the possible habitat more heavy affected," he said. "The excess of the area of the ocean that a whale can communicate and listen today has shriveled to a small fraction down of which it was less than a century ago."

GPS-Endowed pigeons enlist to you like Bloggers pollution

2006-11-07T00:32:00.000+02:00

If the pigeons wrote their own ones blogs, could speak about where to notice the bread crumb or to find the points roosting main.
Hour, for means of fagotti high technology many small, the pigeons really have become bloggers-but they are messages of shipment approximately the smog of California.
In a plan known like PigeonBlog, the sensors in the fagotti collect the data on toxic gases, which the carbon monoxide and dioxide of nitrogen, poich� the birds traversano through skies of the city.
The information then are transmitted of new to a calculating center them, that it automatically sendes a program of the concentration of the polluting substances on the Internet.
Avian Reporters
Beatriz da Costa, a university professor of the limbs, the calculation and engineering to the university of California, Irvine, dreammed on the idea.
One of the inspirations for the plan was muovendo towards California and "seeing the smog in L.A., "it has said. "It is enough defective outside here."
"Around at the same time camera around to the relative neck has worked through one photo of one hundred years of a pigeon with one.
"The pigeons were annull one of ours first� arrange of delivery, "Coast of from saying.
It has decided to modernize this idea for ventunesimo the century and "to use the pigeons as journalists in order to signal on a situation put into effect them."

Discovery of the gamma-rays of the edge of a black drilling

2006-10-29T11:30:00.000+02:00

The astrophysicists the international high energy stereoskopischen system (H.E.S.S.) co-operation report on the discovery of the fast variability very much high energy (VHE) in the gamma-rays of the enormous elliptical galaxy M 87. Querying these gamma-ray photons - with energy more than million million-mark the energy of the visible light - of one of the most famous extragalactic articles on the sky is remarkably, long-waits the many possible places of assembly of particle acceleration (and therefore gamma-ray production) within M 87 given. More surprising was much the discovery of the drastic gamma-ray river changes on synchronizing time marks of days.

These results exclude for the first time all possible elections for places of assembly of gamma-ray production, except the most exciting and most extraordinary: the next environment that supermassifs black drilling, those in the center of M 87 is (the science express, 26 October 2006).

An international crew of the astrophysicists of the H.E.S.S. co-operation announced the discovery of the short term variability in the river very much high energy (VHE) of the gamma-rays of the radio galaxy M 87. In Namibia co-operation a system established querying and to run leaves, well-known into one another-pushed as Cherenkov, which makes these gamma-rays possible, from which soil-same to be determined (notes to see). Showing this system to a close convenient galaxy, M has 87, which determines crew VHE gamma-rays over the last four years. The material surprise is however that the intensity of the emission be seen can, in order to change within some days drastically on occasion.

The enormous radio galaxy M 87
This galaxy, lain 50 million Light years away in the constellation virgin, beherbirgt supermassifs a black drilling of 3 thousand million solar masses, from which a jet of the particles and the magnetic fields leaks out. However differently than for precede-observed extragalactic sources of the VHE gamma-rays - admits than Blazars - the jet to M 87 does not point, toward to the mass however of approximately 30� one sees diagonal. Believed gamma-rays in Blazars will into the jet to be radiated in order the jet direction to be adjusted and in their energy and in intensity by the relativistic movement the jet particle be loaded. Therefore M 87 represents a new kind extragalactic to source of gamma-ray.

A first announcement over VHE gamma-ray emission of M 87 was seen to 1998 with the HEGRA Cherenkov telescopes (one of the forerunner experiment too H.E.S.S.). With the H.E.S.S. results these announcements are confirmed now in the larger confidence. The river of the VHE gamma-rays of M 87 is rather weak; no other radio galaxy was seen supposed in VHE gamma-rays, up to now, because most distant as relatively close convenient M 87 is.

Which short time scale variability us explains
Time scale to the variability is an announcement for the maximum size of the emission region. Since gamma-rays of the rear end of the Emissionregionspielraums cannot be than much shorter longer, until they reach us, variability time scales, require the time gamma-rays, in order to cross the emission region. Such variability mass are frequently used, around the size of the emission place of assembly in the distant articles, frequently for the larger accuracy than, by one the size of the article, which measures be based on the angular extension in the sky to limit. Few day variability time scale seen through H.E.S.S. in M 87 is extremely briefly, shorter than determined at each possible other wavelength. This explains us that the size of the region, which produces the VHE gamma-rays is fair over the size of our solar system (1013 m, only approximately 0,000001% of the size of the complete radio galaxy M 87). �This is not larger much, than the drop horizon that says black drilling in the center to supermassifs of M 87 �Matthias Beilicke, a H.E.S.S. scientist, who works on the university of Hamburg.

This observation forms the next environment of the central black drilling of M 87 most likely the place for the production of the VHE gamma-rays; other structures in the jets of M 87 bend to have larger scales. The physics of the production of processes has to be determined and completely novel units can be because of the proximity of the black drilling caused, which showed this discovery by the H.E.S.S. crew. It is probable that we employ another production unit than for the Blazars, whose jets show toward to us. In this region close of the black drilling, manufactures the affair, which by the black drilling one grows together, also the relativistic plasma beam - a process, which is not still completely understood generally. The fact that gamma-rays of this violent region can escape can look surprising, but is possible, since the black drilling is in M 87 growing together affair at a relatively reduced, compared to other black drillings. Also one cannot exclude that relativistic effects contribute like those, which take place in others extragalactic sources on any level, but accepted, the jet toward to us shows, is not improbable large relativistic effects.

H.E.S.S., which leads the way
With this and preceding discoveries of extragalactic sources, carries H.E.S.S. the way, if it understands the processes, is included in, as these extraordinarily energetic photons are produced. The radio galaxy M 87 is an excellent laboratory for studying the core of these galaxies, with their super+substantial black drillings, which serve, when machines accelerate particles to the extremely high energy and gamma-rays during the process give VHE out. This article can be studied and compared with the more numerous, but more distant Blazars, in which the jet makes our opinion of the central source indistinct. For M 87, we know that we have a free opinion of the central machine with H.E.S.S., to a better understanding everything extragalactic VHE sources of gamma-ray in such a way lead now.

Notes over H.E.S.S.
The high energy stereoskopische system (H.E.S.S.) crew consists of scientists of Germany, France, Great Britain, Poland, the Czech republic, Ireland, Armenia, South Africa and Namibia.

The results were reached with the high energy stereoskopischen system (H.E.S.S.) telescopes in Namibia, in the southwest Africa.This system of four 13 m diameter telescopes is at present the most sensitive detector of the gamma-rays of the very high energy. The gamma-rays are up-sucked in the atmosphere, in which they give a short-lived shower to the particle. The H.E.S.S. of telescopes determines weak, short lightnings of the bluish light, these particles radiates (called the Cherenkov light, some billionths one second lasting) and collects the light with large mirrors, which reflect themselves on extremely sensitive cameras. Each picture gives the position in the sky of an individual gamma-ray photon, and the quantity of the light collected gives the energy outputgamma-ray. Developing the picture photon by photon lets diagrams of the astronomical articles manufacture H.E.S.S., while they appear in the gamma-rays.

The H.E.S.S. telescope row represents a structure effort to multi-year by an international crew of more than 100 scientists and of engineers. The instrument was opened Theo Ben Guirab in September 2004 by the Namibian prime minister, and its first data to have already result in a number of important discoveries, including the first astronomical picture of a supernew fact shock wave at the highest gamma-ray energy.

The scientists, who are included in H.E.S.S. with, continue, improving and improving the system of the telescopes. Structure of a central telescope - a Behemoth 30m highly - is on the way, including new partner countries such as Poland. The improved system, admits crew more sensitive as H.E.S.S. - II, is and covers a larger distance of the gamma-ray energy and makes possible the H.E.S.S. to increase the gamma-ray source catalog and form new discoveries.

NASA successfully discharges double satellites

2006-10-26T21:09:00.000+03:00

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- NASA successfully discharged double satellites Wednesday some minutes before 9 P.M. Their mission is to study very large eruptions from the sun to which satellites damage, electrical systems on mass to disturb and spacewalking astronauts endanger can.
The spacecraft two, admits STEREO, for the terrestrial relations solar observatory, as that away blown up, stacked one on the other one, on board an individual triangle II rocket.
Scientists hope the $550 million, help two-year mission them to understand why these eruptions to arise, how they form and take which way them.
The eruptions -- designated solar flares -- Usually billion tons of the atmosphere sunning in area with a speed of 1 million MPH (1,6 million kph) burn through. The phenomenon is responsible for the north lights or the Aurora borealis, the bright announcement of the lights, which are seen into the upper widths of the north hemisphere. The same lights are in the southern hemisphere the south light
"From bazillion the stars, which we have in our night sky, actual the sun the only one, which counts, "said NASA scientist Madhulika Guhathakurta. "Any understanding or break-through, which we can form, if we understand the sun and the climate sunning is from the direct meaning to each human nature on this planet. "
The two observatories provide scientists with the first three-dimensional opinion of the sun of working in the tandem, like a set of eyes, in the different courses.
NASA hope information about the solar flares the astronauts, those help to fly to the moon and finally damage in the coming decades.
The astronauts, who are exposed to the eruptions, can receive the value of a yearly of the radiation.
The product introduction of the spacecraft was retarded several times this year because of the technical problems.
Scientists plan to release the films and other pictures which are caused by the STEREOraumfahrzeug, although projectors can to have to use the kind of the 3-D of glasses, are carried for films like "creature of the black lagoon. "

NASA retards JWST product introduction up to 2 years, in order to stop cost growth

2006-10-26T20:30:00.000+03:00

NASA plans too retards the product introduction of the James Webb of space telescope (JWST) nearly two years, until 2013, in order to become finished with $1 billion in cost growth on the mission, an older said program civil servant.
Paul Geithner, JWST program main leader to NASA the head offices here, said that around the additional costs to cover instead of, back the objectives science of the mission classify the agency, which is selected in September. Retarded, he said, softens the effect of the cost point on the lean budget years immediately in front.
Geithner called the product introduction voucher „a compromise between which JWST necessarily and which money is present, particularly during the following two fiscal years."
The estimated costs of the mission remain $4,5 billion, including spacecraft development, product introduction and enterprises, Geithner, which is said in an interview. Through delaying the product introduction believes 22 months and relaxing certain technical requirements for forming low priority observations in certain wavelengths, NASA that it can hold the crucial price change near at this level when holding the objectives science of the mission largely intact, said it.
The newest plan for the infrared observatory, which characterized successors expected to the space telescope Hubble of the NASAs, in April to be terminated. He be based on the recommendations of a lining of the astronomers called the science estimate crew.
„As the Kostenzunahme along came, asked us we which Debereich elections we as way, costs down to keep natural have, “said Geithner. „Generally the science confirmed estimate crew that the science case for JWST at least is, as strongly, if than it at the time of the last decadal overview were not stronger, as JWST was arranged No. 1.
"The lining threw effectively drastic cost-saving mass such as a reducing of the size of the 6.5-Meter-Spiegels JWSTS or dropping of certain instruments over the heap. Instead the members were recommended to relax some the more-compelling manufacture data of the observatory which were bound relatively for low priority science objectives on.
In a measure in connection NASA lets a short-wave tunable filter, which was the Canadian space agency to presuppose as improvement to the fine sensor guidance Webbs fall. If the astronomers, who were interested transferred to the very specific wavelengths of the light by himmlische articles, the filter under the lowest priorities science Webbs became important regarded, Geithner said.
The deletion tunable of the filter does not save money, but it eliminates approximately 80 kilograms of mass of the telescope. That is, Geithner importantly, which is said, accepted, engineers tries, to hold weight JWSTS under 6.200 kilograms.
The Geithner meant giving up some observing abilities short-wave of Webbs should the examination and validation of the telescope also simplify.
While voucher of NASA helps the product introduction to avoid large capital syringes on the program in the near future Geithner did not confess it saves money on a long-term basis too. Actually, he said, about half of the $1 billion in the costs is growth now to the two-year retarded zuzuschreibend.
„Net proceeds that whole this were not received said we will that back $1 billion however we our danger situation improved and reduced the probability and the size of the future surplus, “Geithner.
Because NASA decided to absorb the Kostenzunahme on Webb low priority astronomy programs continue confronting household-moderate pressure in front in the years.
„JWST and the Hubble space telescope are really the two largest things in the universe department, therefore they sort of the drive which otherwise happen, “said Geithner. It confirmed there became its „kollaterale damage to “other regional science missions of the Webb stretch out.
„It is mainly SIM, “, said it and referred to area Interferometrie mission, an ambitious planet findene observatory, which already had its product introduction date once, which is pushed back at least in the last years.
JWST is sketched and established by Redondo Beach, Calif. - created Northrop Grumman space technology, which struck out Lockheed Martin of room systems of Denver for the contract late 2002.
Geithner said Northrop Grummans contract, already to value over $1 billion, grows again in the light of the program modifications, but became its specifically. About a contract modification, he said, and for signing to prepare is negotiated, until NASA formally accepts the new JWST plan in April.
Meanwhile NASA expects USzustand department agreement, in order to lock a formal agreement with the European space organization to discharge the Webb telescope on board a Ariane 5 rocket.
While NASA manager Mike reach away into June on the use of the European rocket signed, Geithner mentioned condition repeats still the draft agreement NASA intended to take to Europe in order to cement the agreement.
Geithner said that the Ariane product introduction is not „an effected agreement “, because condition has to approve, minutes, which would grant the authorization to NASA, in order to mediate with the European space organization. But it added that „exercise NASA the Ariane offer intended “, which is continued to set by the Europeans.
Geithner said, it expected that NASA and the European space organization lock the product introduction agreement end of 2006.

Shark Slaughter: 73 Million Killed

2006-10-19T20:46:00.000+03:00

The world's booming shark fin trade is killing up to 73 million sharks per year"about three times more than the official catch number reported to the United Nations, a new study concludes. The findings, derived using data collected from illegal shark fin traders, are detailed in the October issue of the journal Ecology Letters. "The shark fin trade is notoriously secretive. But we were able to tap into fin auction records and convert from fin sizes and weights to whole shark equivalents to get a good handle on the actual numbers," said study leader Shelley Clarke, an American fisheries scientist who works in Hong Kong and Japan. The researchers arrived at their figure using a unique statistical model and data obtained from cooperative traders of shark fins in Hong Kong. Converting the figures to shark weights, they estimated that about 1.7 million tons of shark flesh is harvested each year. This translates to about 73 million sharks.That's three to four times higher than the figure estimated by United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which keeps track of official shark catch records provided by member countries. The FAO's estimates for the amount of shark biomass caught each year range from 0.39 to 0.60 million tons per year. The new figure is the first fishery-independent estimate of the global shark catch for the shark fin trade, the researchers say. The overfishing of sharks could have serious effects for the entire marine food chain in some ecosystems. Another recent study found that removing sharks from a reef environment in the Caribbean had a trickling effect on other species. Without sharks, carnivorous fish that the sharks usually fed on thrived. The carnivorous fish, in turn, preyed on parrotfish that kept the corals clean. In time, the reefs changed from one dominated by coral to one overrun by algae.

Largest Known Planet Discovered, Astronomers Announce

2006-10-09T23:54:00.000+03:00

Astronomers say they have discovered what appears to be an entirely new kind of planet, an extra-large gas giant unlike any known world in our solar system or beyond. The planet, dubbed HAT-P-1, is located some 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lacerta. It is the largest planet ever discovered and boasts a radius nearly 1.4 times larger than Jupiter's. HAT-P-1 is also the least dense of all known planets. "This planet is about one quarter the density of water," said Gaspar Bakos, a Hubble fellow at CfA. In other words, it's lighter than a giant ball of cork. Just like Saturn, it would float in a bathtub if you could find a tub big enough to hold it, but it would float almost three times higher. The planet's large size and low density can't be explained by current theories of giant planet formation. Scientists suggest that additional heat in its interior could account for its "puffed-up" size, but as yet they can't explain how such heat could be generated.

"Resurrecting" Bacteria's Secret Revealed

2006-09-30T16:35:00.000+03:00

Death is the ultimate fate for most bacteria blasted by huge doses of radiation or parched by a severe lack of water. The genetic material irreversibly splinters into hundreds of pieces, dooming the organisms as surely as Humpty Dumpty.
But a few bacteria can "resurrect" themselves by quickly piecing their DNA back together�a strange ability that has mystified biologists for decades.
Now researchers have figured out how one species of these phoenix-like bacteria can rise from the ashes.
A group led by Miroslav Radman, a molecular geneticist at Universit� Ren� Descartes in Paris, France, announces its findings today on the Web site of the journal Nature.
Radman's group studied a bacteria called Deinococcus radiodurans, which survives in sunbaked deserts and rock surfaces.
The organism can withstand massive doses of radiation and can even survive being completely dried out.
When that occurs, "there is no metabolism," Radman said. "The genome is shattered into hundreds of pieces. It is a dead cell. DNA normally acts like a blueprint, telling cells how to cook up the proteins that make life possible. But shredding these instructions renders them useless. Once DNA is split into multiple pieces, there's usually no way a cell's internal machinery can figure out how to piece everything back together again.
Reconstruction must be precise, because a message restitched in the wrong order is gibberish, dooming the organism.

Voyager Probes Send Surprises From Solar System's Edge

2006-09-30T16:34:00.000+03:00

NASA's two Voyager spacecraft are sending back reports of magnetic potholes, sluggish solar wind, and unusual cosmic rays from the edge of the solar system, according to a leader of the Voyager mission.
Voyager 1 was the first of the twin probes launched for Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond in 1977. It is now 10 billion miles (16 billion kilometers) from Earth, at the outer edge of the solar wind's influence, in a region called the heliosheath.
There the solar wind streaming out from our sun begins to interact with particles of what can be thought of as the interstellar wind.
Nothing like the wind we know on Earth, the solar wind is made up of charged particles Voyager 1 has been in the heliosheath since at least December 2004 and is sending back a few surprises.
Closer to the sun, the solar wind moves at about 200 to 250 miles a second (300 to 400 kilometers a second).

Alien "ID Chart" to Aid Search for Extraterrestrial Life

2006-09-30T16:33:00.000+03:00

The search for planets with extraterrestrial life has gotten a new tool: an "ID chart" that scientists will use to compare alien worlds with Earth as it has appeared over the eons. Many astronomers say they expect to find Earthlike planets soon, when better technology enables them to spot small, distant worlds.
"We believe that within 10 or 15 years we'll find the first planet that's Earthlike," said Lisa Kaltenegger, an astrophysicist with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The gases in a planet's atmosphere provide the unique fingerprint for such a comparison. Scientists examine atmospheric conditions on worlds too distant to visit by using visible and infrared light.
The mix of gases in a planet's atmosphere creates a unique spectrum—a colorful fingerprint—that reveals conditions on the planet's surface.

Supersizing Stars

2006-09-30T16:32:00.001+03:00

Enormous suns have baffled astronomers for years. On the one hand, young stars eventually produce so much radiation that they ought to repel any surrounding building material, and computer models suggested this should limit their mass to about 10 times that of the sun. On the other hand, direct observations routinely turn up bodies more than twice that size. What phenomenon could be creating such stellar giants?
A team using the Very Large Array radio telescope in Socorro, New Mexico, thinks it has the answer. The group studied G24 A1, a young star of about 20 solar masses located approximately 25,000 light-years away in a star-forming region. The researchers traced the motions of gas around the star by studying the Doppler shift of radio waves emitted by ammonia molecules. They found molecules blasting away from the star, pushed by the waves of outgoing radiation. But they also spotted gas falling back toward the star and continuing to feed its bulk. And they discovered ammonia orbiting the star, suggesting the presence of a doughnut-shaped disk of gas and dust wrapped around the stellar body.

Possible December Night Launch for Shuttle Discovery

2006-09-30T16:32:00.000+03:00

For the first time in four years, the next space shuttle launch attempt most likely will be at night, NASA said Thursday.
The first launch possibility for Discovery will be Dec. 7 at 9:38 p.m. EDT, the first try at night since Endeavour lifted off Nov. 23, 2002 at 7:49 p.m. Discovery's launch window extends to Dec. 26.
After the Columbia disaster in 2003, the U.S. space agency began requiring that launches be made in daylight so the space shuttle could be photographed to spot possible damage during liftoff. Insulating foam from Columbia's external fuel tank struck the spacecraft's wing during launch, causing a breach that allowed fiery gases to penetrate the vehicle when it returned through Earth's atmosphere. All seven astronauts were killed.
NASA has launched three shuttle flights since the Columbia disaster, all in daylight and with new inspection equipment and techniques for checking for damage. The most recent two launches lost small amounts of foam that didn't threaten the shuttle.
After last week's successful finish of Atlantis' 12-day mission, NASA officials indicated they were willing to relax the daylight rule since there are now new methods for inspecting the shuttle for holes or cracks while in orbit. They said a night launch is needed to stay on schedule to finish construction of the international space station in 14 more flights by 2010.

Scientists find first brown dwarf in planetary system

2006-09-30T16:31:00.000+03:00

Scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered and directly imaged a small brown dwarf star, 50 times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting with a planet around a Sun-like star. Such an arrangement has never before been seen but might be common, the scientists say, leading to solar systems with distorted planetary orbits.
Kevin Luhman of Penn State University is the lead author on a report describing this discovery: "Over the last ten years, astronomers have been extremely successful in finding planets close to their host stars using indirect detection methods," said Luhman, an assistant professor in the Penn State Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. "Because of its infrared capabilities, Spitzer is well suited for directly detecting cool T dwarfs, and perhaps even large planets, in the outer parts of planetary systems."
Brown dwarfs are small stars that are not massive enough to burn hydrogen, like our Sun does. Their cores are not hot enough to trigger such nuclear fusion. As a result, their surface temperature is only a few thousands of degrees when young, cooling considerably to about the temperature of a planet as they age. Consequently, they are dim and hard to identify and, as a result, the first unambiguous identification came only about ten years ago.
The planet's orbit around the Sun-like star is highly elliptical, which had suggested that the gravity of some unseen object farther away from the star was pulling the planet outward. Sure enough, it was a T dwarf. Many extrasolar planets have been discovered with highly elliptical orbits. The Spitzer discovery is the first evidence to support the theory that small companions such as T dwarfs can hide in such solar systems and can cause the orbits of planets to be extreme.

Why Did the Lion Lose His Mane?

2006-09-30T16:30:00.000+03:00

The male lion's magnificent mane sets him apart from other cats--and it's a great charmer for the ladies--so why would he do without it? That question has puzzled scientists since 1833, when the first reports of "maneless" lions trickled in from around the world. Now, a research team reports that lions from the Tsavo region of Kenya deliberately delay mane growth to cope with the region's harsh temperatures.
Some researchers suggested that lions lost their manes because they were snagged too many times in Tsavo's ubiquitous thorn scrub. Others argued that Tsavo's aggressive lions have unusually high testosterone levels, known to cause male pattern baldness in humans. Still others proposed that Tsavo's lions were a distinct subspecies or were related to an extinct lion pictured in prehistoric caves.
Gnoske thinks smaller manes improve a young, vigorous lion's ability to keep cool. Bushy manes probably evolved to attract females in cooler climates where heat stress was not an issue, Gnoske says, and lions can't just turn off that program, now that they're in a place like Tsavo. "They're hard-wired to grow a mane, period, and they'll develop as large of a mane as they possibly can." Gnoske says his team is currently focusing its research on Tsavo lions with known birth dates, but it will be a challenge to keep track of the wide-ranging animals through maturity, especially since radio collars are prohibited in Tsavo's national parks.

Parasitic Weed Sniffs Out Prey, Study Says

2006-09-30T16:26:00.000+03:00

Scientists have now proved what gardeners suspected all along: Weeds really can sniff out tomato plants.
Seedlings from the parasitic plant called dodder track chemical aromas to locate their preferred host plants, a new study says. "This is a pretty cool example of plants behaving in a way that people think only animals behave," ecologist Richard Karban told the journal. The morning glory relative has no real roots, and unlike most other plants, it cannot produce food through photosynthesis.
Instead, the spaghetti-like weed smothers its host plant, injecting syringe-like needles into stems and leaves to suck out water and nutrients.
Because dodder saplings have only a limited amount of food in their seeds, the saplings must quickly find a host plant or die.
Mescher, fellow Penn State chemical ecologist Consuelo de Moraes, and graduate student Justin Runyon suspected that the weeds found their marks using airborne chemical cues.